DuckDuckGo Settings

Last Updated: August 30, 2016 - 11:58 EDT

DuckDuckGo has a number of different settings that you can tinker with to make the private search engine work just the way you want it to. To access them, click the menu icon (the three horizontal bars) in the top-right corner of the page, and click (Advanced) Settings.

Categories of DuckDuckGo settings

DuckDuckGo general settings

These settings deal with what kinds of search results you get on DuckDuckGo, and how they appear.

Region — Click this drop-down menu to select a country and/or language, and DuckDuckGo will prioritize results that are from websites close to this area.

Safe Search — Filters out excessively violent or sexual content from your search results. Click the button to turn it On or Off.

Instant Answers — Causes relevant background information regarding your search terms to appear at the top of the results page. Click the button to turn them On or Off.

Auto-Load — Causes more search results to appear automatically as you scroll down the results page. Click the button to turn it On or Off. If you turn it to Off, you can click LoadMore at the bottom of the results screen to show more results.

Auto-Suggest — Causes DuckDuckGo to suggest popular search terms as you type in your own. Click the button to turn this On or Off.

New Window — Causes DuckDuckGo to display search results that you click on in a new browser window or tab. Click the button to turn this On or Off.

Advertisements — Shows you advertisements from DuckDuckGo's affiliate partners on your results screen; they are related to your search terms. Click the button to turn them On or Off.

Keyboard Shortcuts — Allows you to use certain keys on your keyboard to quickly do certain things on DuckDuckGo. Click the button to turn them On or Off.

Units of Measure — Click this drop-down menu to decide whether to display units of measurement in your results and "Instant Answers" as metric or US-based.

Page Break Numbers — Displays a number whenever you scroll to a new page's worth of results on the results screen. Click the button to turn them On or Off.

Page Break Lines — Displays a horizontal line whenever you scroll to a new page's worth of results on the results screen. Click the button to turn them On or Off.

Browser Instructions — Shows links for instructions on how to make DuckDuckGo a default search engine for your web browser. Click the button to turn them On or Off.

Homepage Animations — Automatically scrolls through help suggestions on the home page for DuckDuckGo. Click the button to turn them On or Off.

DuckDuckGo theme settings

These settings change the overall visual appearance of DuckDuckGo. You can choose between Default, Basic, Contrast, Dark, Retro, and Terminal looks.

DuckDuckGo appearance settings

These settings let you fine-tune how DuckDuckGo displays in your web browser.

Font — This drop-down menu lets you select how the overall text appears on DuckDuckGo.

Font Size — Click this drop-down menu to select how big the text appears on DuckDuckGo.

Center Align — This moves the results for your DuckDuckGo search to the center of the page, instead of to the left. Click the button to turn this On or Off.

Background Color — Choose the background colour that is used across the DuckDuckGo website.

Header Behavior — This drop-down menu allows you to select whether the top search box moves as you scroll on the results page. If Off, it won't scroll. If On & Floating, the entire box will follow you as you scroll. If On & Scrolling, only an arrow icon will follow you as you scroll, which you can click to return to the top of the results page.

Header Color — Click here to change the background colour for the top search box across all of DuckDuckGo.

Result Title Font — This drop-down menu lets you choose the way the text representing the title of a result appears on DuckDuckGo.

Result Title Color — Choose the colour that the title of a search result appears on DuckDuckGo appears if you have not visited that page yet.

Result Visited Title Color — Choose the colour that the title of a search result appears on DuckDuckGo if you have already visited that page at least once.

Result Title Underline — Underlines the titles of search results on DuckDuckGo. Click the button to turn this On or Off.

Result Description Color — Changes the colour of the text that gives more information about your search results on DuckDuckGo.

Result URL Color — Changes the colour of the Internet links to your results on DuckDuckGo.

Result Highlight Color — Changes the colour of the background around a search result when you move your mouse cursor over it.

Result Full URLs — Click to turn this On if you wish to see the full Internet address for each of your results, or click to turn it Off if you want to just see short-form versions.

Result URLs Above Snippet — Click to turn this On if you want to see the Internet address for a result above the description text, or click to turn it Off if you want to see the Internet address for a result below the description text.

Site Icons — Shows website logos (if available) beside the Internet addresses of each result. Click the button to turn them On or Off.

WOT Icons — Shows "Web of Trust" icons beside results from websites that have been certified as non-malicious. Click the button to turn them On or Off.

DuckDuckGo privacy settings

These settings govern how DuckDuckGo works to keep your Internet-related personal information private.

Redirect — This makes DuckDuckGo submit your search request in such a way that your search terms aren't sent to the website of a result that you click on, so that website won't know what you searched for to find it. Click the button to turn this On or Off.

HTTPS — This allows you to use the secure hypertext transfer protocol version of DuckDuckGo. Basically, this makes your search terms and other Internet-related personal information harder to intercept and decode for troublemakers (at least while you're using DuckDuckGo). Click the button to turn this On or Off.

GET Requests — When this is On, your search terms will show up in the Internet address of your results page. Turning this Off is another way besides using the "Redirect" option to prevent websites that you click on in your search results from seeing the search terms that you used to find them. Click the button to turn these On or Off.

Video Playback — This drop-down menu allows you to select what happens when you click the preview for a video result on DuckDuckGo. Select "Always Play on DuckDuckGo" to play the video without leaving DuckDuckGo. Select "Open on Third-Party Site" to go to the website that the video is on, and then start playing the video. Select "Prompt Me" to have DuckDuckGo make you choose between these two options each time.

When you're done making changes to your settings, click Save and Exit at the bottom of the screen.

That's a rundown of all of the different settings that you can change on DuckDuckGo!